FAQ: UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity
– a new instrument of international governance

The Community and 12 Member States deposited
yesterday in Paris, on 18 December, their instrument of ratification of the
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions. Negotiated jointly by the European Commission, on behalf of the
Community, and the Council Presidency, on behalf of the Member State, and
adopted in October 2005, the Convention is the first of its kind in
international relations, as it enshrines a consensus that the international
community has never before reached on a variety of guiding principles and
concepts related to cultural diversity. This text forms the basis of a new
pillar of world governance in cultural matters. Its ratification paves the way
for enhanced cultural cooperation at international level, notably through
exchanges of views and best practices in public policies in favour of cultural
diversity.

Thanks to the Community and Member States ratification, the Convention
will enter into force in three months, as foreseen by the text of the
Convention.

1. What is the scope of the text adopted by Unesco?

The Unesco Convention sets out common rules, principles and points of
reference for cultural diversity at global level. It is the first time the
international community has been able to reach such a consensus on these
questions.

The text makes a considerable contribution to recognising the role and
legitimacy of public policies in protecting and promoting cultural
diversity, to recognising the importance of international cooperation
and promoting this to deal with cultural vulnerabilities, especially in
developing countries, and to defining appropriate links with other
international instruments that enable the Convention to be implemented
effectively.

Moreover, the Convention represents a new platform for tackling culture in
the wider context of sustainable development.

2. The European Union and cultural diversity: how does the Community
uphold the principle of cultural diversity?

Preserving and promoting cultural diversity are among the Community’s
founding principles. They are enshrined in the Treaty, under Article 151,
and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, under Article
22.3.

Within the Union, Article 151 of the Treaty, which has enabled the
development of cultural activities, notably through the Culture 2000
Programme, also requires the cultural dimension to be taken into
consideration in other Community policies, such as industrial policy in the case
of the MEDIA Plus Programme and the internal market policy (free movement of
services) in the case of the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive.

This principle can also be applied to the external dimension of Community
action. Article 151 calls upon the EC and its Member States to promote this
model in their international relations, as a contribution to a world order
based on sustainable development, peaceful coexistence and intercultural
dialogue.

The Community has therefore drawn up an ambitious development policy with a
cultural dimension with some of the world's regions, especially in African,
Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries but also in the Mediterranean and, more
generally, among the Union’s neighbours. In this context, the
Community’s policies support and implement specific objectives enshrined
in the adopted Convention, such as developing viable local cultural industries
and improving the movement of cultural works at global level, especially from
developing countries.

3. Who negotiated the Convention on behalf of the European Union?

The European Community, through the European Commission and as per the
mandate conferred by the Council in November 2004, negotiated alongside
the Member States at Unesco, with the incumbent Council Presidency (the three
successive Presidencies being the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the United
Kingdom) at the helm throughout the process. This classicmodus
operandiis used whenever the competences at stake in given
international negotiations are shared between the Community and the Member
States. The common positions expressed by either the Commission or the
Presidency, depending on the subject under discussion, were fully coordinated
throughout the negotiations.

The European Community’s involvement in negotiations on a normative
text at Unesco was the first of its kind.

The European Union was able to participate for the first time and speak with
a single voice as a key player in the Unesco negotiations.

The European Parliament, and above all its Committee on Culture, followed
these negotiations closely and supported the Community’s approach
throughout the process.

4. What about the ratification process, notably by Member States and the
Community?

To this day, 22 third countries ratified the
Convention[1], among which one
acceding country – Romania – and one candidate country –
Croatia.

As the Convention affects shared competences of the Community and its Member
States, its ratification needs to be done at both levels.

The Community started its ratification process as early as 2005, and the
Council adopted on 18 May 2006 the Decision authorising the Community to ratify
the Convention.

Member States initiated their procedures also rapidly after the adoption of
the text, and throughout 2006, and on 18 December, the Community and 12 Member
States ratified the Convention: Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Bulgaria also ratified yesterday in Paris, at the end of this joint
ratification.

The other Member States, whose internal procedures for adopting ratification
instruments are undergoing, will ratify later and individually to UNESCO.

30 ratifications are necessary to trigger the entry into force of the
Convention

Thanks to the Community and Member States ratification, the Convention
will enter into force in three months, as foreseen by the text of the
Convention.

5. In what way is the text a new pillar of world governance?

The Unesco Convention makes it possible to fill a legal vacuum in
world governance by establishing a series of rights and obligations, at both
national and international level, aimed at protecting and promoting cultural
diversity. This instrument should play a similar role for cultural diversity
– and at the same normative level – as the World Intellectual
Property Organisation conventions, World Trade Organisation agreements, World
Health Organisation agreements and Multilateral Environment Agreements do in
their respective areas.

The Unesco Convention is a platform for debates and exchanges on cultural
diversity at international level: it will allow the reality of cultural
diversity in the world to be observed and closely monitored, and opinions,
information and best practices to be exchanged between the parties. It will also
be possible for the parties to coordinate and consult each other to promote the
Convention’s objectives in the other international bodies and to
strengthen international cooperation.

The Convention’s overall objective is to take into account cultural
diversity when developing other policies, by ensuring that cultural policies
support fair access to both local cultures and other world cultures. The
Commission therefore sees the Unesco Convention as an adaptation of Community
principles at international level, in particular Article 151.4, which
requires the Community to take cultural aspects into account under other
provisions of the Treaty.

6. Does this Convention call into question the Community’s and
Member States’ commitments to the World Trade Organisation? How does this
text fit in with WTO commitments?

The Convention does not call WTO commitments into question. There is no
objective or effect to remove or exclude cultural goods and services from the
WTO agreements. The Convention recognises the specificity of cultural goods and
services and legitimises domestic and international cultural policies.

The Convention is not subordinated to other treaties but on an equal footing
with, for example, the WTO agreements. It does not conflict with but complements
these other international agreements.

The Unesco Convention will not alter the WTO agreements (which is not
possible in any case – only the Organisation’s members can do this
by following established procedures) but will require parties to consider the
objectives of cultural diversity and the terms of the Convention when applying
and interpreting their trade obligations, as well as negotiating their trade
commitments. The Convention is therefore a considerable step forward in
protecting and promoting cultural diversity at international level,
including in trade negotiations.

There is nothing in the Convention that prejudges the positions that the
parties will take in trade bodies. For their part, the Community and Member
States have a clear position in the WTO on cultural and audiovisual services,
which is to preserve their role in maintaining and developing policies in these
areas. Within the framework of the Doha Development Round, the Commission
indicated that it would not ask for or offer trade commitments in audiovisual
and cultural services.For more information :